


Home

by FandomN00b



Series: Lost and Found: The Misadventures of Marian Hawke and Everyone She Meets [8]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Lost and Found DA2 endgame canon divergence, M/M, Multi, REPEAT: DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU WANT/NEED SPOILERS, Spoiler fic, don't read if you want to follow the angst through this series, this is the happy ending i promised
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 11:51:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,991
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17580299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FandomN00b/pseuds/FandomN00b
Summary: Hawke, Fenris, Anders, and their twins Malcolm and Leandera finally make it home from Skyhold. Warm fuzzies ensue.





	Home

**Author's Note:**

> Hastily-written, fluffy, happy homecoming with pets and friends. Prior to this, Anders (and Hawke!) were both miraculously brought back from the Fade by a very determined Fenris during an alternate Inquisition timeline. I may take this down, or revise it if/when I get to publishing/organizing the rest of this series. But for those of you (like me), who like to read the ending of a story first to make sure it's not too sad, here's where (I think!) we're headed for this little family.

\---

As they approached the cottage, a ginger cat came trotting jauntily out from a little hole in the front door, headed toward Anders. Once she reached him, she wrapped herself around his legs, purring and rubbing her cheeks against his shins, his ankles, his calves.

“...Pounce?!”

She looked up at him and let out a little meow. _Yes_. Who else would she be?

“I'm sorry. _Ser_ Pounce. But how did you…? I didn’t think I’d ever -- this is...!”

She took a few steps away from him, as if she was taking him all in, looking him up and down with as much incredulity now as he was giving her. Then she hopped over to Malcolm and waited patiently for him to scoop her up. He reached down and took her into his arms, cradling her like a baby. She stared upside down back at Anders, a look of smug satisfaction on her face.

“Look! I know! I’m sorry...I had to! Stroud was a real bastard about it!”

She squinted up at him, then blinked and yawned. It was as good as he was going to get from her in terms of forgiveness for leaving her behind in Amaranthine.

“Daddy, you know Malcolm’s cat?” Leandera asked.

The cat was cleaning herself in Malcolm’s arms.

“She was his cat before she ended up with us,” Hawke started to explain. Anders was looking at her, waiting for the rest of the explanation...the part about _ending up with them_. How had this come to be?

Malcolm was waiting, too. He’d always known the cat was special. He could communicate with her, in a way. She didn’t speak, not in the conventional sense, but he could sense things. Her approval, her fears, her comfort or discomfort. And she was reassuring to him. He didn’t fear his magic when she was near. But he was aware, almost from the beginning, that the others didn’t have the same connection with her. Maybe Anders had? Or maybe some part of him had become some part of her. None of that would have been surprising to Malcolm, but it certainly would have been quite interesting.

Leandera just looked confused. “I thought she belonged to an old lady who died?”

“Madame Edithe? Oh no! Poor woman…what happened to her other cats? She had so many!”

“Um, not sure. Sorry.” Hawke shrugged. “Nate brought the cat to us a few years ago, after she had passed away. Right before shit got real bad in Amaranthine between the mages and Templars.” Her face went a little darker for a moment, then she smiled, waving her hand at her son and his cat. “Anyway, the two of them have basically been inseparable since he was a baby!”

Anders looked thrilled. “Boys _need_ cats!”

“And girls need...dogs...?” Hawke was beginning to question Anders’ parenting philosophies already.

“Where _is_ Pork?” Leandera whined.

On cue, the old mabari poked her giant square head around the door of the cottage as it opened. Behind her stood Merrill, waving excitedly at them. “Hullo!”

“Auntie Merrill!”

Leandera ran to hug the dog, rather than make her run out to them, and Porcia leaned her whole giant tired body against the girl to show her appreciation. Then Leandera wrapped her arms around Merrill’s waist.

Merrill laughed. “Welcome home, dah’len!”

Hawke followed her daughter, pulling Merrill and the dog and the little girl into a single embrace. “Thanks for looking after the beasts for us. And the cottage.”

“Oh, it was nothing! They were all excellent, well, except the go --” she stopped mid-sentence as her eyes and her brain finally registered Anders’ presence, lagging just a little behind the others as they approached.

“Hi Merrill…” he said, with a little smirk. He had no idea how she was about to react. Would she be as furious with him as Hawke had been? She had certainly warned him about Justice, about interacting with spirits. And she had paid certain painful consequences herself when her well-intended interactions with them had gone awry.

“We heard the rumors, but you…. _you_ …” She looked at the children, who were watching her with curiosity. By now, they knew their other father’s reappearance was a shock to almost everyone who’d known him before. They’d seen the full range of reactions. Their mother’s anger, then denial, and finally acceptance. And happiness, eventually. Their father’s quiet, reserved relief at having a second chance to welcome him into their family. The various reactions of the people at Skyhold like Cullen and Leliana. “You... _disappeared_!”

“Yes. I did. And for that, I’m sorry.”

“Wait. No. Sorry? Why?”

“I understand it made life pretty...difficult...for some of you.” He looked sheepishly at Hawke and then at Fenris.

But Merrill didn’t seem to harbor any ill will against him, at least. “It got us all out of Kirkwall, didn’t it?”

“And it finally got Hawke and Fenris together!” Isabela suddenly emerged from a room further back in the little house. She looked like she’d just thrown one of Hawke's old shirts on, her hair was wrapped up in a towel, and she had somehow found Hawke’s fuzzy slippers that she _thought_ she’d packed away in storage before they'd left. She grabbed Merrill around the waist with one arm, and wrapped the other around Hawke. The little elf woman had three people hugging her now, and she was barely visible among the heap of dog and arms that surrounded her.

“We didn’t know you’d be back on land this soon, _Admiral_ Isabela!” Hawke winked. “Sorry if we interrupted your bath…?”

“The thought of seeing this ridiculous asshole again, however unbelievable, was too tempting to pass up. Business can always wait.”

She looked Anders up and down, not too dissimilar from the way the cat had inspected him a few moments earlier. “How are you, Anders? And are you a ghost? And how is old Mr. Grumpypants?”

“I -- uh, I don’t _think_ I’m a ghost.” He looked at Fenris, who had stooped down and was patting Porcia with a satisfied smile on his face. “And Justice...well, I don’t know.”

“You lost him?” Merrill’s eyes were wide.

“Well, I was in the Fade when Hawke found me and then, Fenris and some of the Inquisition mages...brought us back. That whole process is a bit fuzzy. But I would assume that if Justice and I entered the Fade together, the _way_ we entered the Fade, he would’ve been able to exist without a body, so…”

“He left you?! After everything you’d done for him? That unfaithful bastard!” Isabela was only half-kidding. She _would_ be the one to swear revenge on a spirit of Justice for being unfaithful to a friend. And then probably turn around and try to negotiate a threesome with it.

“I’m not sure that’s _exactly_ what happened…”

“Well, whatever happened, it’s good to have you back on this side of the Veil, lethallin.” Merrill managed to free one of her arms and pulled him towards the growing pile of affection that had formed around her in the doorway. Malcolm hung back a little with the cat still purring in his arms, but he was close enough that he could still feel the warmth and happiness that was pouring out from them all. Fenris lightly patted his shoulder, as much for himself as for his son. This was exactly what home was meant to feel like. Finally.

“How did you get stuck behind the big curtain, Daddy?” Leandera asked, innocently enough, looking up at him from the middle of their family pile.

Fenris cleared his throat. Hawke’s blissful expression at being reunited with her beloved dog _and_ smothered in between a Merrill and Isabela sandwich suddenly transformed into one of concern. Up to this point, neither of their children had asked about the particulars of Anders’ absence from the first four years of their lives. It had seemed that, to them at least, he had just always been there, and the details of his existence in the waking world or out of it were insignificant.

“I, err -- uh, I made a --” But it wasn’t a _mistake_. He didn’t regret what he had done. It had been necessary. It had ignited a revolution more powerful than he or Justice could have ever imagined that had swept across Thedas as mages rose up and demanded their freedom from the Circles, from the Templars, from the oppressive dogma of the Chantry. The Inquisition itself owed much of its early momentum to what he’d set in motion, having co-opted the cause of the mages at Leliana’s urging, and with a sympathetic leader in Inquisitor Lavellan, though he knew he would never be considered a hero like Hawke or Nesi or Brosca were. But even for that, he was actually quite grateful, too.

His only regrets were the devastating effects it had had on the people he cared about, missing out on the life, the family, he had left behind. Leaving Hawke all alone after she’d stood by his side. And never having known how Fenris felt about him until now. And the children. Maker, how he regretted having missed being there from the beginning of their remarkable little lives.

“I did something…” was about all he could think to say without divulging details he wasn’t sure he was supposed to share with their four-year-old children.

“He didn’t ask his friends for help when he needed it the most, Lele,” Hawke said, nodding at him. Someday, he would have to tell them, or they’d find out eventually. Their parents and their exploits weren’t exactly unknown to the rest of the world, and it was a miracle that at Skyhold they hadn’t been fully debriefed on the entire history of their tumultuous lives in Kirkwall considering how many copies of Varric’s books were always lying around. It was a good thing Leandera couldn't really read, and Malcolm had little interest in the kind of books the dwarf wrote.

“Oh! Like when I was trying to jump across the river, and Malcolm told me to wait for Mama or Papa. And I said no, because I knew Mama would be mad at me for playing in the river again after she told me not to. And I fell in.”

“Yes, actually. A lot like that,” Anders laughed, even more fondness than he thought possible blooming in his chest for his daughter. He imagined falling in the river was probably a habit of hers.

Hawke smiled at Anders, an unspoken apology there, in her face, as she spoke to her daughter, but mostly to him. “I don’t really have anything _against_ playing in the river, of course. I just want to keep you safe...to protect you. To be with you in the river. Together.”

There were tears welling up in the corners of Anders’ eyes. Tears of relief and understanding and a forgiveness he wasn’t sure was even his to give, and a whole host of other emotions he was still trying to get used to having and processing after four years in the Fade. He had a fucking _family_. A _home_. It all still felt so impossible. Like he could wake up at any minute from this dream.

“Shall we go inside? It’s been a long couple of days on the road,” Fenris offered, as a reprieve from the intense waves of emotion that were sweeping through all of them as they stood there in the doorway of the home he and Hawke had built together in grief and desperation, and managed to somehow fill, with the help of their friends and family, with way more love and warmth than any of them, not even Fenris, could have ever dreamed of.

“Oh! I will make us all some tea!” Merrill wiggled her way out of the multiple embraces that had nearly swallowed her up.

Hawke and Fenris and Isabela all rolled their eyes at each other, grateful for the interruption, at least. None of them liked tea. But it was one of Merrill’s favorite things to do. To play host. And they never dared to refuse her. Even if it was at someone else’s house.

“Anders, do you still prefer earl grey?” she asked over her shoulder, already busying herself with the tea set she’d given Fenris all those years ago back at Danarius’ mansion in Kirkwall. It had been one of only a few things that had made its way to them here. Brought across the Waking Sea aboard Isabela’s ship at Fenris’ request.

“I think so!” Anders shouted back cheerfully after her.

“Wonderful!” she exclaimed. Finally, someone who would actually  _enjoy_ the tea part of the tea party with her!

Anders had waited for all of them to follow Merrill inside before taking a deep breath and preparing himself to cross the threshold. This was not his home. Not quite yet, whatever Hawke or Fenris or the children would've said. The warmth and love here was sacred and beautiful, and it had all happened in spite of him. There was that little nagging sense...what if he ruined this, too?

Fenris hung back, just inside the door, as Hawke stomped into the house and tossed her pack against a wall, then headed straight for their bedroom, in search of a change of clothes. Something clean and comfortable. Leandera went to go find her beloved toys, which she had missed so very much, and to introduce them to all of the new trinkets and things she’d acquired at Skyhold. And Malcolm found a quiet corner to sit in and watch them all as Pounce batted at his new robes, the only thing he’d brought back from the Inquisition, a gift from ‘Madame de Fer,’ as the buzz of activity and happy energy filled the air.

“It’s ok,” Fenris said, eyeing Anders as he hesitated to enter.

“Huh?”

“This is your home now, too. If you want it to be.”

“I do. Oh, Maker, I do…”

“Take your time, then. You can belong here. You already do. Though I imagine it must still be a little strange.”

“Thanks...I -- this is just a lot. I didn’t even really think about it until now. I just wanted to...but this is _your_ life. With Hawke. And the kids. And I’m just -- “

“This life would never have happened without you. It’s your life, too.”

“Or it all might have happened a lot sooner. With a lot less grief.”

“Anders...”

“Yeah?”

He extended his hand to him. A remarkable gesture, coming from Fenris. “ _Please_ come in.”

He rarely asked for anything more than once. And it was even more rare that he ever said “please.”

The smell of the tea leaves steeping had begun to make its way to Anders’ senses. Merrill must have already had the water heated before they’d arrived. The scent immediately brought back cherished, vivid memories of his past. Moments of belonging.

Of Hawke’s estate in Kirkwall. Late nights bent over his Manifesto, with Justice, and a room temperature mug of the stuff keeping his physical body awake enough to do the work they both felt utterly compelled to do. Early mornings, gossiping with Orana over a freshly-brewed cup, and a grumpy, sleepy Hawke slumping into the kitchen looking for cinnamon rolls and coffee, happy beyond relief to see that he was still there.

Long days, and even longer nights at the clinic. Merrill bringing him tea and fresh, clean linens for the patients. And helping when and where she could, even though she was terrible at healing magic.

The kitchen at Vigil’s Keep, filled with golden sunlight late in the day, when they weren’t out hunting talking Darkspawn, sipping afternoon tea with Nate and Justice and Velanna in some attempt to restore civility to their broken worlds, and the dwarves with their “afternoon ale,” raiding the cupboards for snacks. And Brosca demanding more cookies be stocked from the requisitions officer to accommodate their rowdy “tea parties.”

And Karl. Introducing him to tea as they pretended to study the history of the Circle together late into the night as young apprentices in the library at Kinloch Hold. Holding hands under the table, knees pressed against each other. Smiling and blushing behind books and trying to hide it all from annoyed, sleepy Templars who’d been ordered to watch over them, to keep a special eye on Anders.

This could be home, too. If he would allow himself to believe he deserved it.

He took another deep breath, and reached for Fenris’ outstretched hand. It wasn’t just a welcoming gesture. It was a lifeline, and he grasped at it as if he was being rescued from drowning. Or pulled back out of the Fade.

Fenris pulled him inside. Slowly, steadily, but with all of his impossible strength behind him. Anders knew, of course, that he was stronger than he looked. Stronger than any of the rest of them, to be sure. He’d experienced that firsthand on a number of occasions, but it was still always a good, comforting thing for him, to be pulled along, urged forward, held steady, by somebody else’s strength and resolve. To not be allowed to fall back on his own self doubts. To be rescued. He had hoped he would not need so much rescuing now. But in this moment, he could only really feel gratitude. So much gratitude.

“Daddy! Come look! I want you to meet everyone!” Leandera had emerged from her room with her arms full of dolls and stuffed animals and carved wooden creatures.

“Oh, my love...I cannot wait to meet them all!” Anders laughed, allowing all the tears he’d been holding back to flood freely from the corners of his eyes as Fenris slowly let go of his hand, and ushered him further inside.

Hawke had come back out to join them, as well, and she nodded toward Fenris with an appreciative smile. She was grateful, too.

\---


End file.
